There are topical treatments.
I have almost all of my patients, I try to
get them on tretinoin, also sometimes
going under the generic name -- the brand
name of Retin A Micro,
which improves the
overall texture and complexion of skin.
As everybody gets older -- well everybody
at every single age
has skin cells which are
continually shedding,
and when you get older
they don't shed as much, so they build up,
which gives people a yellow, sallowish
complexion. And just the fact that you're
shedding these cells, what that allows is
that you have more of
a nicer reflection of
light, so your face looks lighter,
it looks more
luminescent, and people
like that a tremendous
amount. Also when you
use a topical medications,
if you're using other things
like chemical peels,
even light ones in the office,
so-called lunchtime peels,
it penetrates better, it works better.
There's a tremendous variation on what
a chemical peel does. We always
introduce people with light peels. Many
people have had light peels after an
acne treatment. It's a light peel which
just takes off the most
superficial layers of the
skin. When you want to do
it more for wrinkles,
especially like fine wrinkles
around the eyes
or the vertical lines which
occur more above the upper
lip, which occur more
in women than in men,
more in smokers than non-smokers, more in
people who have a history, a lifetime
accumulative history of
much more sun exposure,
it can take it out a little at a time.
It's a type
of thing that if done properly,
you can do it every
few weeks on a regular basis
with almost no
downtime. You do not have to do a dramatic
peel where you're gonna have to stay away
from going to work or social engagements
for a few days. This is truly the type of
thing done a certain way,
it'll take a little
longer to really get there,
but you can go about
your business on a day by day basis.